Clearing a ssd

[Timvandervinne]

I have a desktop with a hdd 3Tb and a ssd 256 Gb and i would like to remove the ssd and stick it into my laptop, but my windows boot software is on the ssd and i dont know how to get the stuff off the ssd and stick it in the hdd. i know there is cloning software but wil it wipe all of my data on the hdd?

[shibbs]

Cloning software SHOULD leave the original drive intact as a fail-safe method. 

[Timvandervinne]

Cloning software SHOULD leave the original drive intact as a fail-safe method. 

so if i say to cloning software, to copy al the data of my ssd to my hdd the data on the hdd is stil there including all the ssd data?

[Captain_WD]

~snip~

 

Hey there Timvandervinne,

 

The cloning procedure should wipe the HDD and then populate it with the data from the SSD, leaving the rest of the space as unallocated. The data on the SSD should still be intact after the procedure. Have in mind that cloning a SSD on a HDD and vice versa comes with risks of data corruption and compatibility issues so I would recommend to simply backup your HDD, move everything on other partitions and leave one free partition where you put a fresh new OS and reinstall all your programns and applications. This should be the safest way of proceeding in your case.

 

Captain_WD.

[Timvandervinne]

 

Hey there Timvandervinne,

 

The cloning procedure should wipe the HDD and then populate it with the data from the SSD, leaving the rest of the space as unallocated. The data on the SSD should still be intact after the procedure. Have in mind that cloning a SSD on a HDD and vice versa comes with risks of data corruption and compatibility issues so I would recommend to simply backup your HDD, move everything on other partitions and leave one free partition where you put a fresh new OS and reinstall all your programns and applications. This should be the safest way of proceeding in your case.

 

Captain_WD.

 

 

so i would lose all my hdd data? because that means installing almost 1 Tb of software/games Gta, Bf  hardline, bf4, bf3, bo3 that would take like 2 weeks orso i have 5 mb/s

[shibbs]

When I used the software that came with my Samsung EVO SSD, it left the system intact on my HDD.

[Timvandervinne]

When I used the software that came with my Samsung EVO SSD, it left the system intact on my HDD.

but i bought a pre manufactured pc so i dont realy have software included but can you give me a link where you downloaded yours?

[braneopbru]

When I used the software that came with my Samsung EVO SSD, it left the system intact on my HDD.

It seems that you are not understanding the question. OP wants to remove the boot SSD from the computer, clone it's contents to the HDD to be able to boot from the the HDD and not loose any of the data on the HDD.

 

Can't be done OP. Like you were already informed, if you clone your SSD to the HDD, you will loose your HDD's existing data. 

 

I may be wrong, but it might be possible to install Windows onto the HDD without wiping everything on the drive. I've never tried that, so I can not give you a definitive answer. Your best bet would be to buy another SSD. You'll have a lot less headaches and less chance of data loss if you just stick a brand new SSD into the laptop and leave the one in the desktop alone.

[Captain_WD]

~snip~

 

That is correct. When installing the OS it asks you to which partition you would like to install it, offers some partitioning and formatting options and you are not obliged to format the whole drive, just a single partition. The rest should stay completely safe.

 

There are some applications that can clone only partitions to partitions but they involve an even greater amount of risk.

 

Captain_WD.

[paddy-stone]

Should be possible, but if you do manage it you're going to run into problems anyway as the boot drive of both the PC and laptop will have the same windows licence, and also, even thoguh it is possible to set the 3TB drive to have anew partition and clone the contents of the SSD over, you would have major compatability issues with the laptop for sure and a lot of work would need doing and even then it might still have issues. And also, the 3TB drive would have to be configured for the new partition you created to be the boot device, which is possible, but would take a bit of work.

IMO, you're better off leaving things as they are and grabbing a cheap SSD for the laptop boot drive, and if you need storage for it, get a cheap-ish USB HDD.

[shibbs]

It seems that you are not understanding the question. OP wants to remove the boot SSD from the computer, clone it's contents to the HDD to be able to boot from the the HDD and not loose any of the data on the HDD.

I apologize. I was under the impression OP was trying to do the opposite--from HDD to SSD.

[s3ns3]

Have in mind that cloning a SSD on a HDD and vice versa comes with risks of data corruption and compatibility issues

mind that those risks are real and very common among those who use cloning software.i learned it the hard way

 

just install fresh windows on hdd.without formating anything.or make a partition just for windows and program files and instal it on the new partition.

[Timvandervinne]

Should be possible, but if you do manage it you're going to run into problems anyway as the boot drive of both the PC and laptop will have the same windows licence, and also, even thoguh it is possible to set the 3TB drive to have anew partition and clone the contents of the SSD over, you would have major compatability issues with the laptop for sure and a lot of work would need doing and even then it might still have issues. And also, the 3TB drive would have to be configured for the new partition you created to be the boot device, which is possible, but would take a bit of work.

IMO, you're better off leaving things as they are and grabbing a cheap SSD for the laptop boot drive, and if you need storage for it, get a cheap-ish USB HDD.

i dont need storage ihave a 1 tb hdd but i want to speed up word en some other applications

[paddy-stone]

It is possible for you to move the SSD over to the laptop.. your best bet though is to do a fresh install of windows on it, much simpler. Then you will also need to sort your old computer out with a fresh install of windows, you can create a partition within that 3tb HDD you mentioned earlier and install the fresh version of windows to that... job done.

 

BUT, and this was the point I was trying to make, you will need to purchase a new licence for one of the computers as you will only have a licence for one I am assuming? Also, this is much more work than just purchasing a new SSD for the laptop and installing fresh version of windows.. unless you want to run a linux distro in which case just download whichever takes your fancy and put the ISO on to a USB drive with format tool like rufus  http://rufus.akeo.ie/